When the young midfielder made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This statement proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his first call-up to the full Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a true throwback, a journey seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, never mind playing in the Premier League and representing England as well,” the player said previously.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Developing in the lower tiers
His path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on the island and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of childhood again was a thing I really required.
“Building some self-belief by returning and taking part in island football was massive for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial things that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their league match at the opposition.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking his development after an impressive start in men’s football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
He made 83 league outings for the Robins while in his teens, often being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Within three months after, he joined Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost several months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, developing a strong partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my life,” the player stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, getting better day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
